Skyrim Modernity AU
by ek-the-origin
Summary: A more modern/ futuristic Skyrim, plain and simple. Lore has been kept mainly unchanged, except for slight adjustments to fit the setting. More details are in the Prolouge/Summary, as well as the italicized text blocks at the start of the chapters.
1. Prologue

TESV:Skyrim- Modernity AU Summary

Year? 2144

Location? Skyrim/ Tamriel

Weaponry? Guns, some blasters, tanks, other common military hardware

Magic? Shouts? Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssss

Bandits? Yes, but consider them a rogue band of insane weirdos rather than just a bunch of petty criminals.

Forsworn? Yes, and they are still just a bunch of magical bloodthirsty weirdos who live in the middle of frickin nowhere in the woods.

Imperials and Stormcloaks/ Civil War? Indeed. Just, much more modern/ futuristic.

Alduin? Fortunately for the story, yes. Although now he's like a cyborg dragon instead of a weird demon ghost monster thing…

Thalmor? Yes. Except they're like a bunch of power crazed lunatics with their sights set on bending all of Skyrim to their will.

Other races? Yes. Just, yes.

Dragonborn? Yes and no. Kinda.


	2. Chapter 1

Skyrim Modernity AU

Written by:ek-the-origin

Chapter One: Hellfire in Helgen

 _The story is told in the perspective of Erika, a young Imperial woman who finds herself in Skyrim during a Civil War. Here, in the beginning, she has been taken prisoner and is being transported to the Imperial city of Helgen to be put to death with many other rebel prisoners._

We sat alone in the back of a prison van. It meandered down a mountain path towards the Imperial city of Helgen. Our hands were cuffed and we sat quietly, sharing our tales of how we ended up being on the Imperials' list of who they wanted executed. The man next to me, Ulfric, was the leader of the rebellion that led to the current civil war. He was the Jarl, or governor, of Windhelm and the Hold of Eastmarch. But, he had murdered the late High King Toryyg in an attempt to rise to power and take the throne by force, landing him on the death list of the Imperials.

The man across from me, Ralof, was a Stormcloaks soldier from the town of Riverwood. He had been captured at an Imperial military checkpoint, along with some two dozen other Stormcloaks, who rode in different vans. The man next to him was named Lokir. He was caught at the military checkpoint trying to flee Skyrim in a stolen car.

Then there was me. I was a young Imperial from the province of Cyrodiil. I was also caught at the military checkpoint. I was on my way back from High Rock, where I was visiting relatives, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Suddenly, we came to a stop. There was a great commotion going on outside.

"What's happening?" Lokir questioned. "Why have we stopped?"

Ralof looked at him blankly and replied, "Why do you think? End of the line."

The back doors of the van were thrown open and light flooded into the dimly lit interior of the van. Two Imperial officers stood before the doors and ordered us out of the van. A great fear overcame me, for I knew that if we were here in Helgen, an Imperial prison city, that death certainly awaited us.

We stepped down out of the van, into a large courtyard of the Helgen Imperial Prison, or HIP. The two officers catalogued us, taking our names, other simple personal information and things of that sort as they checked us off their lists one by one. Lokir had tried to escape, and was immediately shot by security turret atop the courtyard walls. Outside the walls stood the beautiful city of Helgen with its glittering lights and clear fresh air, soon to be stained and tainted with the darkness of death. Ulfric, Ralof and I were called and stepped over to join a circle of the other prisoners that were to be executed.

A middle aged, dark skinned man stepped towards Ulfric. Ralof whispered in my ear, incoming me that he was General Tullius, the Imperials' military governor and constant suck up to the Thalmor. A priest entered the yard and began speaking, reading us our last rights. Ralof and I whispered back and forth to each other while she spoke.

"So how did the war really start?" I inquired?

Ralof sighed, and began to explain to me the origin of the civil war that currently engulfed Skyrim. "Okay," he started. " General Tullius, for a long time now, has been kissing up to the Thalmor. The Thalmor wanted to ban the worship of the deity Talos in Skyrim because they disagreed with the teachings of Talosian preachers. Tullius, being who he is, in the position he is in, convinced the Imperials to outlaw Talosian worship. This made many angry. Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak called for a rebellion and he got one. Anyone who disagrees with the Stormcloaks, in his eyes, is not a true Nord. He believes that all who obey the Imperials are weak minded cowards. To show he meant business, he went to pay King Toryyg a visit. He then used the power of the Thu'uum, an ancient art of shouting in the dragon tongue, to murder Toryyg and take the throne. Clearly, that didn't work out very well for him. So now, here we are."

Prisoners were on their way to the wall now. They were to be put to death via firing squad. Five prisoners were lined up, each with an Imperial soldier in front of them holding a pistol to their heads. On cue, the soldiers fired, and all five of their captives fell lifelessly to the ground, blood trickling from their heads. Next, me, Ralof, Ulfric, and two others were ordered to the wall. A low metallic screech was heard in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" Inquired a curious guard.

Tullius quickly retorted, "It's nothing, soldier. Back to business."

The low metallic roar sounded once again as the guards put their pistols to our heads. Suddenly, a great black dragon, plated in metal and screeching in an ear piercing tone, dropped onto the courtyard guard tower in front of us. A great deal of soldiers began to panic, screaming, "It's a dragon, they legends are true!"

The dragon bored into the tower with great sharp claws, ripping and tearing the courtyard to shreds. Ralof had broken his cuffs and ushered me and Ulfric into a nearby tower.

"Gods, is it really a dragon?" Ralof inquired with a time of panic. "Could the legends be true?"

Jarl Ulfric glared at Ralof as he undid his bindings and replied in a deep voice, "Legends don't tear down cities."

Ralof quickly formulated an escape plan and began escorting me up the tower as Ulfric fled to return to Windhelm. Halfway up the tower, the dragon tore open the walls and snatched a fleeing Imperial soldier in its gaping maw of bloodied steel. Ralof and I looked through the gaping hole in the wall and saw the mess hall below us, with its roof caved in. Ralof peered at me and ordered "There's no other way, you're going to have to jump! I'll find another way around. Go!"

I quickly leapt across to the building below and kept running until I came back outside. I came to an Imperial soldier guarding an older man and a young child. We had barely missed being grabbed by the dragon. The soldier, Hadvar, gave the other pair instructions to leave as quick as possible. He turned to me and said in a commanding tone, "Still alive prisoner? Stay close to me if you want to stay that way."

Suddenly, a great feeling of hope washed over me. _I'm gonna escape,_ I thought. _I'm gonna make it._ I was led into a narrow opening between two buildings, and the dragon smashed down on top of the building to our left. It opened its mouth and spewed forth a great cloud of fire, effectively roasting the small group of men that were unfortunate enough to be in the way. The dragon then flapped it's great wings and soared off and began circling the courtyard once more. Hadvar led me through the carnage and death to the HIP Keep. Ralof appeared before us, bursting through a set of doors into the courtyard, rifle in hand.

Hadvar became tense and screamed out "Ralof, you damn traitor! Get outta my way!" There was a murderous tone in his voice.

Ralof replied, saying "We're escaping, Hadvar. You're not going to to stop us!"

It came my time to make a decision. Should I follow Ralof, or Hadvar? In my panic, I followed Hadvar into the Keep, escaping the burning carnage of the HIP courtyard. I was safe. For now…


	3. Chapter 2

Modernity AU(TESV: Skyrim)

Written by: ek-the-origin

Chapter Two: Into the Light

 _Out of the chaos and madness of the courtyard, Erika has made it into the Helgen Keep with Hadvar. They are frantically trying to escape the prison, and the city before it come crashing down on top of them. It will not be as simple as it seems though, as more obstacles stand between them and safety than they had initially thought…_

Hadvar and I ducked into the keep, out of the chaos of the courtyard. Hadvar glanced back at the door nervously and undid my cuffs. "Looks like we're the only ones that made it," he said rather dryly. "You should look around for some gear and take what you can. I've got a feeling we'll need it."

At that, I started rummaging through chests in the dim lighting of the keep. Suddenly, I began to ponder the methods of our escape. I turned to Hadvar and inquired, "How are we going to get out? Isn't the keep just a dead end?"

Hadvar glanced at me and replied, "Actually, there's an old escape tunnel." He pushed his brown hair out of his eyes and rubbed his temples as he spoke. He was formulating a plan. "The tunnel should lead out of the city. We'll use it to escape. We're getting out of here, one way or another."

I had found a rifle, some ammo, and protective gear in the chests that were laying around. Hadvar tossed a helmet my way. "Here," he said. "The tunnels might be pretty dark. The helmets have lights on them though." I flicked a small switch on the helmet, and a row of lights flickered to life across the front of the helmet. I turned them back off and slid the helmet onto my head. Hadvar opened a door and began to lead me through the keep.

We began our descent into the keep in a hallway which led to a dim chamber. Through the glass door we could see several Stormcloaks inside, and heard them yelling and arguing about needing to escape. Hadvar paused and whispered, "Stormcloaks… Maybe we can reason with them."

With that, he slid open the door and approached the Stormcloaks. One brandished a knife and yelled at Hadvar to stay back, or he'll stab him. Hadvar put his gun to the ground and began to negotiate with them.

"Hold on there," Hadvar said. "Calm down. We're trying to escape too. Maybe we can help you get out."

"All you Imperials are the same," the Stormcloak replied. "All you want is to kill me and my brothers and sisters to satisfy your totalitarian leaders."

Hadvar noticed that one of the soldiers was bleeding and burned. He turned to me, raised his eyebrows a bit, and turned back to the Stormcloak with the knife whilst casually reaching into his back pocket to grasp his pistol. "Look," he said. "Your friend is hurt. You need supplies to tend to him. I can supply them, if we can just agree to work together."

The Stormcloak behind the one with the knife said in a worried tone, "Adrian, he's right. Harren won't last much longer like this. We have no choice."

The Stormcloak facing Hadvar lowered his knife and said to Hadvar, "Alright, we accept your offer." They turned to the soldier behind him and muttered something we couldn't hear. The other soldier nodded, and grabbed a shotgun that was lying next to the bleeding soldier Harren. He quickly took aim at Hadvar, but before a shot could be fired, Hadvar had pulled his pistol from his back pocket and shot the soldier dead center in the chest. He fell backwards, stunned by the impact of the bullet, and began bleeding severely.

Then, the other Stormcloak rushed Hadvar with the knife, and was quickly shot through the chest as well. Hadvar holstered his pistol in his back pocket, picked up his rifle, and turned to me with a look that said "we had no choice". At that, we crossed the chamber, opened a door to a stairway, and started down into the keep.

We came to a landing at the bottom of the stairs which led two different ways. Ahead, a section of the ceiling came crashing down with a great crash and blocked the hallway with a pile of burning wreckage and ceiling tiles. We had no choice but to follow the left path from the landing. It led to a storeroom filled with more Stormcloaks. We instantly engaged in a shootout, until one by one, every Stormcloak in the room had been killed.

"Looks like our lucky day," Hadvar said with a slight chuckle. "Imperial storeroom. Should be lots of supplies in here."

I replied to him, "Then let's grab what we can and get out."

He nodded, and we set to work, packing sacks full of whatever supplies we could get our hands on. Water, food, medicine, batteries, etcetera. Afterwards, we set about looking for a door that led to the escape tunnel. Hadvar found a map of the keep and opened it up.

"So, where is this tunnel?" I asked.

"Ahhh," Hadvar replied as he pointed to a spot on the map on level -2, "Here. It should be through a door hidden behind a panel behind one of these cabinets. Better start opening drawers and cupboards, because I have no clue as to which one it's behind."

Quickly we began opening every cabinet in the room, to little avail. Eventually though, I came to a drawer that was not opening, no matter how hard I pulled. I called for Hadvar to come help me, and together we pulled the drawer open enough to reveal a button inside. Hadvar held the drawer open long enough for me to push the button before letting it clatter closed. Several seconds later, the cabinet slid down into the floor, revealing a panel behind. By pushing on one side of die of the panel it slowly rotated open to reveal an old set of stairs leading downward.

"This has to be it," Hadvar said, sounding rather exhausted from holding the drawer open. "This is the only secret stairway we've found in here."

"Yeah, plus it'd be really boring to drag the story out with us looking for another stairway," I said. "I don't think the people reading this would enjoy it."

Hadvar glanced at me and said with a puzzled look, "What?"

"Nothing."

At that, we started down the stairs into the underbelly of the keep. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, we needed our helmet lights to see through the pitch black darkness. For what seemed like an eternity, we trudged through the dark tunnels, desperately trying to find our way out. At last, we came to a great vaulted door.

"Uhhh alright," I said. "How do we get past this?"

Hadvar tapped the door a couple times and was returned with a couple resounding clangs. "The entire door is made of steel," he said. "We might be able to blast off the lock. Step back." He then pulled out of his pack a small box with what looked like some circuits and switches on the front. He peeled a film off the back and placed the box on the main lock of the door. It stuck firmly, and he flipped a switch on the box. A small light flickered on, and the box began beeping. He pulled me aside and we ducked behind a wall, and shortly after, there was an explosion, and the door swung open.

We then started through the now open door. The door had been bent by the force of the blast and the locking mechanism had been utterly destroyed. As we stepped through the door into a long hallway, a musty smell wafted over us.

"We've gotta be getting close to the end of the tunnel by this point," Hadvar remarked.

I glanced at him and replied, "I sure hope so. We've been in here forever…."

At last we came to a great opening. There was a small ledge, and then in front of us was a great cistern, with water flowing in and out of at least 6 different passages. Hadvar checked the map and found our location. "We should be able to just go straight, and then be out," he said. We then followed what looked like the main passage dead ahead. Quickly we were in swiftly flowing water up to our ankles, as the passage started sloping downward slightly. Far ahead, I could see glints of light on the water.

"Hadvar, look!" I yelled over the roar of the rushing water. "I think we found the exit!"

Hadvar saw the rays of light hitting the water and spoke in a tone filled with hope. He said, "It must be! Come on, let's go!"

Within a few minutes, we were at the end of the passage, and had come to a large grate. Water was rushing out of it, and poured into a small canal just below. With little effort, Hadvar pushed the rusted, decaying grate off, and we were free. We were finally safe.


End file.
